Three medals awarded to the first soldier from the King's Shropshire Light Infantry 6th Battalion killed in action during the First World War will be auctioned in Shrewsbury this week.
The medal trio and death plaque relating to Private Albert Jones, who was born in 1891 at Rushbury, near Munslow, Craven Arms, are included in Halls Fine Art’s militaria auction on Wednesday, February 26.
Private Jones was only in France for three weeks before he was killed at the age of 24 during the Battle of Loos.
Valued at £180 to £220, the medals awarded to him comprise the 1914-15 Star, 1914-18 War Medal, and Victory Medal.
The 6th Service Battalion, formed by companies at different towns in Shropshire, left the depot for Blacktown on September 10, 1914.
It became a unit of the 60th Brigade, which left for Folkestone, en route to Boulogne, on July 21 and 22, 1915.
Private Jones was killed in action on August 13, 1915, and buried at the Rue-du-Bois Military Cemetery, Fleuxbaix.
The unit war diary for that day states that the 6th Battalion was at Rouge de Bout and trenches at Petillon and one soldier, Private Jones, was killed, one seriously wounded, and one slightly injured.
Sergeant E. S. Williams was the man seriously wounded and later died of his wounds.
Private Jones was the son of John and Jane Jones and husband of Rose Elizabeth Jones of 82 Elkington Street, Aston, Birmingham.
He enlisted at Ludlow in late August 1914 and landed in France on July 24, 1915.
He is commemorated on war memorials in Ludlow and Wistanstow, near Craven Arms.
Another First World War Killed In Action medal group, with death plaque and related letters, relates to Corporal George Jay, of Military Foot Police, No. 3 Traffic Control Company.
The group, valued at up to £350, includes the Military Medal, 1914 Mons Star, 1914-18 War Medal, and Victory Medal.
Corporal Jay was awarded the Military Medal for bravery whilst on traffic duty on June 5, 1917, when a lorry convoy carrying gas cylinders was hit.
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